Every summer, usually in July or August, you'll suddenly notice flying ants appearing everywhere in the UK.

This phenomenon is known as Flying Ant Day – although it's confusing because it doesn't actually happen on one particular day every year.

The dates change – and it isn't usually just one day either. 

At some point during the summer we know we'll start to see giant swarms of winged insects across the UK.

So far there hasn't been much mention of them – but as swarms of these insects are common around this year, we take a closer look at the phenomenon and when it's likely to happen.

What is Flying Ant Day?

Flying Ant Day is scientifically referred to as nuptial flight, the phenomena where virgin queens mate with males before starting new colonies.

For humans, this basically means a large number of ants whizzing around. 

The natural event has been described as "early Christmas" for seagulls, who enjoy feasting on the insects.

While it has been dubbed 'Flying Ant Day', a project by the Royal Society of Biology found that the widely held idea is actually a misconception.

%image('12786444', type="article-full", alt="The Natural History Museum said the winged ants appear at different times around the country and local weather conditions are critical for the coordination of swarming activity")

They found rather than a single day, it is more of a season. 

Swarming is triggered by the weather and tends to happen in July or August.

The study discovered that ants only flew on days when it was warm.

The Natural History Museum said the winged ants appear at different times around the country and local weather conditions are critical for the coordination of swarming activity.

The interesting life of a flying ant 

Before the swarming or the nuptial flights, ants live in a colony in a nest and each have a specific job role. 

The queen lays the eggs while female workers look after the queen, eggs and larvae.

They gather food, make their nest bigger and generally ensure the colony runs to plan.

Most of the eggs hatch into worker ants but when the colony is completed, the queen begins to produce virgin queens and males. 

When the winged males and virgin queens emerge from the nest, they scatter to maximise the chance of mating between different colonies. 

Once ants have mated, the role of the males is over.

The mated queens quickly chew off their own wings and begin looking for a suitable site in which to nest and set up a new colony.

This is why you often see large ants walking around after a 'flying ant day' and may even see discarded wings scattered over pavements.

It usually happens at the end of July.

Why do ants sprout wings?

A new queen ant needs to leave the colony where she is born to found a new one. She also needs to mate. So, she leaves her nest with a number of flying male worker ants.

According to the Royal Society of Biology, the large numbers of flying ants which appear in a short space of time increase the chance of reproduction, because there is a very high chance a queen will encounter a male from another nest.

Then, to check he's worthy. she flies away from him, performing acrobatics to test his abilities to catch her.

When he does they mate in mid-air. This kills the male ant.

The Queen then lands to find somewhere to start a new colony. She loses her wings after just one day.

What you should do 

Pest controllers Rentokil advise keeping doors and windows closed if the ants are circulating in particularly high numbers, or using fly screens and curtains to keep them out if the weather is really too warm to keep the house shut up.

And their arrival is short lived, so after a few days you should notice that any significant populations you have seen will begin disappearing.

But if you do find some very near your home you may wish to discourage the potential for new visitors.

Experts say a few weeks before the ants rise large unexplained piles of soil can start appearing on the grass above nests and this can sometimes be the first sign that new creatures are about to emerge.

Disrupting any nests or ant mounds you find in your garden can be the best place to start in reducing the risk of them coming indoors in large swarms.